Gas circulating separator



Dec. 31, 1968 H. E. HOBE ETAL 3,

GAS CIRCULATING SEPARATOR Filed Nov. 30. 1966 INVENTORS. HAROLD E. H085and FRANK KENNEDY Alibrney United States Patent 3,419,256 GASCIRCULATING SEPARATOR Harold E. Hobe and Frank Kennedy, Johnstown, Pa.,assignors to United States Steel Corporation, a corporation of DelawareFiled Nov. 30, 1966, Ser. No. 597,917 Claims. (Cl. 263-47) ABSTRACT OFTHE DISCLOSURE A separator for use between stacked coils of steel stripwithin an annealing cover, the separator permitting circulation ofatmosphere gas. The separator is fabricated from a plurality ofidentical flanged steel segments in a manner to provide strength,adequate coil supporting area and direct gas to strip contact.

This invention relates to a gas circulating separator and moreparticularly to separators which are provided between stacked coils ofsteel within the inner cover of a box annealing furnace. In thesefurnaces, atmosphere gas is circulated throughout the stacked coilswithin the inner cover. It is desired to have as much gas in directcont-act with the steel as possible in order to obtain maximum heattransfer. On the other hand, it is desirable to provide maximumsupporting area for the coils on the separator to prevent damage to theedges of the steel being annealed.

Menough Patent Nos. 2,981,529 and 2,981,530, both dated Apr. 25, 1961,disclose separators for this purpose. However, the separators disclosedin these patents do not have the most desirable combination of area ofgas contact and area of coil support. Manufacturing costs of theseseparators are relatively high and maximum strength is not obtained fromthe material used in the construction of the separators.

It is, therefore, an object of our invention to provide a coil separatorwhich provides the most desirable combination of area of gas contact andarea of coil support.

Another object is to provide such a separator having maximum strengthfor the weight of material used therein.

Still another object is to provide such a separator which is relativelyinexpensive to manufacture.

These and other objects will be more apparent after referring to thefollowing specification and attached drawing, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a top plan view of our separator with parts broken away;

FIGURE 2 is a view, on an enlarged scale, taken on the line IIII ofFIGURE 1, but showing only the outer periphery of the separator;

FIGURE 3 is a plan view of one segment of the separator; and

FIGURE 4 is an end view of the segment of FIG- URE 3.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, reference numeral 2indicates the top surface of the separator and numeral 4 the bottomsurface thereof. The separator is provided with the usual centralopening 6 through which the atmospheric gas passes. The separator has aplurality of spaced apart closed passages 8 extending radially from theopening 6 to the outer periphery of the separator, a plurality ofdownwardly extending open radial channels 10, and a plurality ofupwardly extending open radial channels 12, the channels 10 and 12 beingalternately arranged at the sides of passagesways 8. Channels 10 and 12and passageways 8 increase in cross sectional area from the inner to theouter end thereof.

The separator is fabricated from a plurality of chan- 3,419,255 PatentedDec. 31, 1968 nel-like steel segments 14 which are all of the same sizeand shape. Each segment 14 includes a flat web 16 and a longitudinalflange 18 along each edge thereof. A radial slot 20 is provided in theinner end of web 16 and a similar slot 22 at the outer end thereof. Theouter end of web 16 is shown as having a straight portion 24 and taperedside portions 26. However, this shape may be changed as desired. Thesteel segments 14 are cut from flat plates and the flanges 18 are thenformed in a press, the slots 20 and 22 serving to center the plate inthe press. In assembling the separator, a plurality of segments 14 aredisposed in a horizontal plane with their flanges 18 extending upwardlyand with a space equal to the width of the channel 10 therebetween asbest shown in FIGURE 2. The same number of segments 14 are then disposedbetween the first segments with their webs in a horizontal plane and theflanges 18 extending downwardly, the second group of segments 14 beingarranged with their webs 16 resting on top of the flanges 18 of thefirst group of segments 14 and their flanges 18 resting on top of thewebs 16 of the first group. The slots 20 and 22 aid in centering thesegments 14 when assembling the separator and also assist in preventingdistortion of the separator due to expansion and contraction during theannealing cycle. With the segments 14 so assembled, it is a simplematter to connect the flanges of the top segments 14 to the webs of thebottom sections 12 by means of welds 28. The partly assembled unit isthen turned upside down and the flanges of the then top sections arewelded to the then bottom sections by means of welds 30. The separatoris then ready for use.

It will 'be seen that this construction provides a box section formingeach closed passage 8 which greatly increases the strength of theseparator. It will also be seen that the assembly of the unit is simpleand that there is no problem in making the welds 28 and 30 since theyare provided at locations readily accessible to the welders.

Because of arcs 32 connecting the flanges 18 to the web 16 and thearrangement of the segments 14, there will be direct contact ofatmosphere gas with the top and bottom surface of the coils of steelover approximately one-third of their cont-act area with additional heatbeing supplied to the coils from the atmos phere gas flowing throughpassages 8 and channels 10 for the top surface of the coil or channels12 for the bottom surface of the coil. The separator supporting surfacefor the coil is approximately two thirds of the entire area, which isadequate to support the coil without damage, especially since no sharpcorners are provided between the supporting surfaces.

While one embodiment of our invention has been shown and described, itwill be apparent that other adaptations and modifications may be madewithout departing from the scope of the following claims.

We claim:

1. A gas circulating separator having a central vertical opening andadapted to be interposed between the individual coils of a vertical pileof coils being annealed, which comprises a top surface in one horizontalplane, a bottom surface in a second horizontal plane, said surfacesextending from said central opening to the outer periphery of saidseparator, spaced apart closed passageways between said surfacesextending radially from the central opening to the outer periphery ofthe separator, and an open channel on each side of each closedpassageway, one facing upwardly and interrupting said top surface andthe other facing downwardly and interrupting said bottom surface, saidpassageways and channels increasing in cross sectional area from theinner to outer ends thereof and being open at each end.

2. A gas circulating separator according to claim 1 including a firstgroup of spaced apart channel like segments each having a flat web and alongitudinal flange at each edge thereof, a second group of spaced apartchannel like segments each having a flat web and a longitudinal flangeat each edge thereof, the flanges of each of the segments of one groupextending toward the webs of the segments of the other group atpositions intermediate the longitudinal sides thereof, said webs eachhaving a wide and narrow end and being arranged radially about a centralopening with their narrow ends adjacent thereto, and means connectingthe flanges of the segments of each group to the webs of the segments ofthe other group, the webs of said first group of segments forming saidtop surface and the webs of said second group forming said bottomsurface, said closed passageways being formed between the webs andflanges of adjacent segments.

3. A gas circulating separator according to claim 2 including radialslots in the outer and inner ends of each segment.

4. A gas circulating separator according to claim 2 in which said meansconnecting the flanges of the segments of each group to the webs of thesegments of the other group are welds in said open channel extendingbetween the free ends of the flanges of the segments of one group andthe inner surface of the webs of the segments of the other group.

5. A gas circulating separator according to claim 3 in which said meansconnecting the flanges of the segments of each group to the webs of thesegments of the other group are welds in said open channels extendingbetween the free ends of the flanges of the segments of one group andthe inner surface of the webs of the segments of the other group.

6. A gas circulating separator according to claim 2 including arcuateconnections between the flanges and web of each segment.

7. A gas circulating separator according to claim 6 including radialslots in the outer and inner ends of each segment.

8. A gas circulating separator according to claim 6 in which said meansconnecting the flanges of the segments of each group to the webs of thesegments of the other group are welds in said open channels extendingbetween the free ends of the flanges of the segments of one group andthe inner surface of the webs of the segments of the other group.

9. A gas circulating separator according to claim 8 including radialslots in the outer and inner ends of each segment.

10. A gas circulating separator according to claim 1 including a firstgroup of spaced apart segments forming said top surface, a second groupof spaced apart segments forming said bottom surface, said segments eachhaving a wide and narrow end and being arranged radially about a centralopening with their narrow ends adjacent thereto, a vertical membersecured to and extending downwardly from each longitudinal side of eachtop segment and secured to a bottom segment intermediate thelongitudinal sides thereof, each of said upwardly facing channels beingformed by a bottom segment and the adjacent vertical members of adjacenttop segments, and a vertical member secured to and extending upwardlyfrom each longitudinal side of each bottom segment and secured to a topsegment intermediate the longitudinal sides thereof, each of saiddownwardly facing channels being formed by a top segment and theadjacent vertical members of adjacent bottom segments, said closedpassageways being formed between adjacent top and bottom segments andthe vertical members secured thereto.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,069,148 12/1962 Jacob 266-53,352,551 11/1967 Kennedy et al. 263-47 FREDERICK L. MATTESON, JR.,Primal Examiner.

EDWARD G. FAVORS, Assistant Examiner.

